West Indies fast bowling great Andy Roberts believes Shimron Hetmyer erred when deciding to forego the West Indies tour of England.
West Indies legend Sir Andy Roberts believes up and coming fast bowler Oshane Thomas should have been one of the names scribbled higher on the list for the team’s upcoming three-Test tour of England.
The 23-year-old pace bowler has been added as a reserve for the tour but is not a part of the 14-man squad for the series. In fact, he is yet to make his test cricket debut but has played 20 ODIs and 12 T20Is since his debut in late 2018 and picked up five-wicket hauls in both limited-overs formats.
Roberts believes the tour would provide the perfect opportunity to look at the player for the longest format of the game, because of one attribute, his raw pace.
“He should be in that 14-man squad from the onset. He has what others want, he has pace. Everybody wants pace,” Roberts told the Mason and Guest Radio program.
“He may not be a wicket-taker but he may create some problems for the opposition and that is what you want. Sometimes it’s not the guy who gets the wickets, it’s the guy who creates the problem that gets the other guys the wickets.”
Thomas had an impressive outing for the West Indies before the global game was halted due to the spread of the coronavirus. He took 5 for 28 and 1 for 24 as West Indies swept Sri Lanka 2-0 in a T20I series in the first week of March.
West Indies fast bowling great Sir Andy Roberts insists it was a mistake for the team to embark on the current tour of England, without tangible compensation, due to the high risk taken by the players.
The West Indies and England will return to international cricket next month, with a three-Test match series behind closed doors. With the spread of the coronavirus continuing to be a serious concern in the UK, for safety reasons, the players and everyone associated with the series will be kept in what has been described as a biosecure bubble for seven weeks.
With the United Kingdom (UK) being one of the hardest-hit countries by the virus and some 41,128 deaths already reported, there will doubtlessly be some element of risk in travelling for the tour. As such, West Indies players were given the option of not accepting the invitation, with Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul all deciding to opt-out due to safety concerns. As is customary, it is the host team that will be entitled to the revenue from the series, with the decision by the West Indies expected to save the England and Wales Cricket Board £120million in reimbursements to Sky Sports.
Due to the exceptional nature of the circumstances, Roberts believes the Caribbean team should have secured better compensation.
“I don’t have a problem with them negotiating to go to England, but what I have a problem with is talk that the West Indies will not benefit from the tour financially,” Roberts told the Mason and Guest radio program.
“I think that is a mistake because the chances that we are going to take, I don’t think you have many more countries that would be willing to take such a chance,” he added.
“If they are to benefit financially then I don’t have a problem, but if they are not going to benefit from it, then I have a problem, why take the risk and sacrifice the guys?”
Here’s how it’s going to go.
With the Coronavirus killing sports, everybody has been in a nostalgic mood. We remember fondly, the greatest sporting moments in our rich Caribbean history and sometimes turn our eyes to the rest of the world for that instance when we felt unbridled jubilation or shock and awe at a performance.
Here at SportsMax it has been no different and after the early end to the West Indies Championship, we had vigorous debates about which region had, collectively, produced the best cricket team.
Out of that ‘conversation’, if you can indeed call it that, we wondered if you selected the best playing XI of all time from each regional team, who would win.
Over the next few weeks we will be looking to build a BestXI from each regional team. At the end of coming to a consensus about what those BestXIs would like, we will pit them against each other, just for laughs.
Let’s begin with the Leeward Islands, a region known for producing tremendous cricketers, who have made themselves an integral cog in the West Indies machinery. We figured that for each region, we would pick six batsmen, a wicketkeeper and four bowlers.
Stuart Williams was the heir apparent to Desmond Haynes in the West Indies setup but his cavalier way of batting proved his undoing at the highest level. But in first-class cricket, his strokeplay and appetite for runs made him dangerous. He would end his career with 26 first-class centuries and 36 half-centuries to his name from his 151 matches for the Leeward Islands.
Kieran Powell is a tall elegant left-hander, who now captains the Leeward Islands. He is graceful timer of the ball but you have to watch out for the power that underlines that grace. His 31 average is lower than his talent suggests but his seven centuries and 37 half-centuries mean you never know when he will come off and opposing bowlers will be in trouble.
Richie Richardson captained the West Indies as replacement for Viv Richardson, guiding a new set of stars. He did the same for the Leeward Islands, leading from the front just as Viv did before him. Richardson would play 234 first-class matches in which he scored 14,618 runs. Those runs included 37 centuries, 68 half-centuries at an average of 40.71.
Sir Vivian Richards achievements on the international stage have been given their due and he is undoubtedly the best player to ever come from the Leeward Islands. The Antigua native captained the West Indies with the same confidence and swagger with which he led the Leeward Islands. During his first-class career, Sir Viv was a beast, scoring a mammoth 36 thousand plus runs inclusive of 114 centuries and 162 half-centuries. His average of 49.40 when you consider he played 507 first-class matches is nothing to scoff at either. Interestingly, he also took 223 first-class wickets.
Keith Arthurton was a stylish left-hander whose flair made even the smallest total an attractive thing to watch him compile. His talent did not manifest itself at the Test level but as a first-class batsman he was devastating. Averaging 45.29, his 129 matches cost his opponents 7,926 runs, inclusive of 19 centuries and 47 half-centuries.
Runako Morton died in a car crash at just 33 years old. By that time, his relationship with the West Indies side had spanned eight years even though he never did command a consistent place in the regional unit. Still, he was a mainstay for the Leeward Islands, playing 95 matches and accumulating 5,980 runs along the way. He scored 14 centuries and 37 half-centuries.
Ridley Jacobs was an unorthodox wicketkeeper but there weren’t many who were safer. He was also an obstinate batsman, who made sure every innings at whatever level he played, would be prolonged for that much longer. On the way to ensuring he does that, Ridley managed to score 7,518 runs in the 157 first-class matches he played. Included in those runs were 17 centuries and 40 half-centuries at an average of 38.75. Ridley was the man you wanted in your corner in a dogfight and according to his results, he usually won.
Andy Roberts needs no introduction to this list and, like Viv Richards is an automatic pic after his exploits with the West Indies put him in the category as one of the greatest fastbowlers of all time. Roberts, ended his first-class career after 228 matches, taking an incredible 889 wickets at an average of 21.01.
From a region of incredible fast bowlers, Eldine Baptiste is perhaps unlucky not to have played more Test cricket but he was a giant of first-class cricket in the region, taking 723 wickets in 245 matches at an average of 24.65. His best bowling figures of 8-76, while special, shows the consistency of effort from a man who has taken five wickets or more in an innings on 32 occasions. He has also taken 10 wickets in a match four times.
Antiguan-born Kenny Benjamin formed an important partnership with Winston Benjamin in the early 1990s for the West Indies. The two served as backups to Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose and helped to keep the legend of dangerous four-pronged pace attacks from the region alive until the West Indies were overtaken as kings of cricket in 1995 by Australia. Benjamin got his chance with the West Indies because he was impressive for the Leewards, even more so than his impressive namesake, Winston. In just 108 matches, Benjamin took 403 wickets at an average of 23.71, grabbing five-wicket hauls in an innings on 18 occasions. He also grabbed 10 in a game twice.
Curtly Ambrose is arguably the greatest first-class bowler the West Indies region has ever seen. His well-known accomplishments at the Test level aside, Ambrose was a giant. In just 239 first-class matches the Antiguan bagged 941 wickets, taking five-wicket hauls on 50 occasions and 10-wicket hauls in a match on eight.
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